# San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)

The San Diego Sockers were a professional soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 as well as the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). The franchise folded in 1996 and was the last surviving NASL franchise.
The Sockers are considered the most successful indoor soccer team. They made the playoffs in all but one of their 16 seasons of playing indoors.

## History

The team began as the Baltimore Comets in 1974 but moved to San Diego as the San Diego Jaws in 1976. After a one-year stay in Las Vegas as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, the team returned as the San Diego Sockers in 1978. They were owned by Bob Bell and played their indoor games at the San Diego Sports Arena.
Initially, victories came slowly for the club but mounted quickly and they experienced moderate success over their outdoor history winning several division titles. However, the San Diego Sockers won the North American Soccer League (NASL) Indoor Championships of 1981–82 and 1983–84. Success was far from over for the San Diego Sockers. When the NASL folded, the San Diego Sockers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League and won eight championships: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The Sockers carried their success from one league to the next. They switched to the Continental Indoor Soccer League for three more years from 1993 to 1995. However, after several ownership changes, Sockers folded after the 1996 season.
There have been two subsequent revivals of the Sockers. The first was a franchise in the WISL that later joined the second MISL before folding in 2004. A second started play in the PASL-PRO in 2009.

### Leagues

* NASL 1974–1984
* NASL indoor 1980–1982, 1983–1984
* MISL/MSL 1982–1983, 1984–1992
* CISL 1993–1996

### Owners

* Co-Owners included Charles T. Koval, Joe Sadowski, Ed Lewis, Bob Bell (1977–78)
* Co-Owners Charles T. Koval, Bob Bell (1978–81)
* Bob Bell (1981–87)
* Ron Fowler (1987–91)
* Oscar Ancira, Sr. (1991–94)
* San Diego Sports Arena Management (1994–96)

### Head coaches

* Hubert Vogelsinger (1978–1980)
* Ron Newman (1980–1994)
* Brian Quinn (1994–1996)

## Year-by-year
### Outdoor

| Year | Reg. Season | Playoffs | Notes | Attendance |
| 1974 | 2nd East, 10–8–2 | Lost Quarterfinal | operated as the Baltimore Comets | 4,139 |
| 1975 | 5th East, 9–13 | Did not qualify | operated as the Baltimore Comets | 2,641 |
| 1976 | 5th South, 9–15 | Did not qualify | operated as the San Diego Jaws | 6,152 |
| 1977 | 5th South. 11–15 | Did not qualify | operated as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers | 7,079 |
| 1978 | 1st American Conference West, 18–12 | Lost Conference Semifinal | first season as the San Diego Sockers | 5,146 |
| 1979 | 2nd American Conference West, 15–15 | Lost Conference Final | | 11,271 |
| 1980 | 3rd American Conference West, 16–16 | Lost Conference Final | | 12,753 |
| 1981 | 1st West, 21–11 | Lost Conference Final | | 14,802 |
| 1982 | 2nd West, 19–13 | Lost League Semifinal | | 8,532 |
| 1983 | 4th West, 11–19 | Did not qualify | | 4,685 |
| 1984 | 1st West, 14–10 | Lost Semifinal | last outdoor season | 5,702 |

### Indoor

| Year | League | Reg. Season | Playoffs | Attendance |
| 1976 | NASL | 3rd West Regional, 0–2 | Out of playoffs | 6,055 |
| 1980–81 | NASL | 4th South, 6–12 | Out of playoffs | 4,912 |
| 1981–82 | NASL | 1st West, 10–8 | Won Championship | 7,047 |
| 1982–83 | MISL | 1st West, 32–16 | Won Championship | 8,081 |
| 1983–84 | NASL | 1st NASL, 21–11 | Won Championship | 11,415 |
| 1984–85 | MISL | 1st West, 37–11 | Won Championship | 9,595 |
| 1985–86 | MISL | 1st West, 36–12 | Won Championship | 9,581 |
| 1986–87 | MISL | 3rd West, 27–25 | Lost Semifinal | 9,748 |
| 1987–88 | MISL | 1st West, 42–14 | Won Championship | 8,996 |
| 1988–89 | MISL | 2nd MISL, 27–21 | Won Championship | 8,383 |
| 1989–90 | MISL | 2nd West, 25–27 | Won Championship | 8,131 |
| 1990–91 | MSL | 1st West, 34–18 | Won Championship | 7,231 |
| 1991–92 | MSL | 1st MSL, 26–14 | Won Championship | 9,348 |
| 1993 | CISL | 2nd CISL, 20–8 | Runners-up | 5,583 |
| 1994 | CISL | 2nd West, 18–10 | Lost Quarterfinal | 5,032 |
| 1995 | CISL | 3rd South, 17–11 | Lost Quarterfinal | 5,366 |
| 1996 | CISL | 1st West, 17–11 | Lost Semifinal | 4,830 |

## Sources

* [when accessed on February 15, 2020, this link was no longer active]